Thank you to all who attended the July Community Meet-Up. At the meet-up concerned and active community members joined in passionate conversations about the well-being of the community and worked to link issues and disappointments they had towards our institutions with potential areas of action. It is often said but it can't be said enough - Poughkeepsie is saturated with residents who CARE and who exist in this city with purpose!

There are so many great FREE educational resources for small businesses coming to the area in the near future and we want to make them known! We hope that our Made in Middle Main business partners, and community leaders, and our partnering organizations will take advantage of these opportunities…

How interesting it is that the momentum of the community is climbing to a peak during the ‘dead’ of winter! In a season where Vitamin D and serotonin levels are on the low end, the community is really getting to work! Thank you, 2015! Elizabeth said in our meeting this week “it’s going to be a good year.”

I want to take a moment to offer our applause and support to some community members whose passions for critical issues have…

There were some great events inMiddle Mainthis past week/weekend! Hopefully you got out to some of these interesting happenings yourself, but if you were unable to I’d like to give you a quick synopsis of the week of January 11th in Middle Main! Glad to see that the winter does notslow us down…

Before last week I had not realized exactly what it meant to be an Americorps VISTA funded by Neighborworks America, and how fortunate that makes Geoff, Nathaniel and myself. Neighborworks orchestrates several different large-scale face-to-face learning opportunities for their organizations employees, their Americorps VISTAs, and leaders and representatives from the communities that their…

The Day of the Dead Grand Celebration was a great success! Last weekend we filled the Mid-Hudson Heritage Center over the brim with Hudson Valley residents who came together to celebrate the great holiday. It was very meaningful for both those who are from the cultures that celebrate this holiday and for those who are not from the cultures that celebrate the holiday to share it with one another. Everyone was very spirited to either teach or be taught about the many interesting…

It was a lovely evening at Mainstay CoWorking on Friday night!Jamie Rusek, owner of the business at 356 Main Street, held an evening of Cider and Fall Sweets paired with casual community conversation. Folks from…

At Hudson River Housing Geoff, Lindsay, and I, share our office with a pleasant Indian woman named Vas. As Vas was leaving for the day this afternoon she took a glance at our many piles of printedDia de los Muertosfliers and posters and said to me, “you know, this holiday is celebrated all over the world.” I gave her a funny look, because my understanding of Dia de los…

This past weeks community meet-up was very impactful for all who attended.

Middle Mainhas been hosting community meetings since January of this year, and it is clear that they are gaining some traction. There are about a dozen community members who make a point to attend almost every meeting, and there is always representation…

Thank you to all who I have met so far during my first two weeks in Middle Main for being so awfully welcoming, and encouraging to me in my role in this initiative. My formal title is the Neighborhood Marketing Americorps VISTA, and my hope is that through that I can be a, as my Marist College Rowing coach (shout out to Matt Lavin) would put it, “positive force” and presence in Middle Main and the greater community. I hope to…